Can Words be Bad?
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Language is a funny thing. It can be used in such amazing, unifying ways, but it can also be divisive and harmful. Even one word can have a variety of different meanings, both bad and good, depending on context and usage. And yet for some reason there are certain words, cuss words for example, that have been declared bad, with the intent that they should not be spoken in front of polite society, especially children. But why is that? Why are some words just bad from the start regardless of what they mean or how they are used and others aren’t?
It is the intent behind words spoken or written that should be more important than the actual words themselves. One could easily take a seemingly neutral word and with absolute derisive intent use that word to harm another. For example, the word pig is just a regular word. It’s a word found in many children’s books and nursery songs and typically isn’t one that would cause audible gasps if uttered by a toddler. However, if the word pig was used in the context of ridiculing the police, the meaning completely changes and the word is no longer one of neutral substance, but is now one that has the power to cause harm. Yet, we do not ban the word pig from polite society, even though it has the potential to offend.
We don’t ban neutral words, like pig, because we understand that the meaning behind the word is what actually matters. If a toddler is listing animals found on a farm and says pig, then we realize that the word is being used with no ill intent. The context and usage of the word, assures us that offense should not be taken. However, an angry adult shouting pig at a group of cops can easily be seen as offensive since the context of the situation and the intent of the speaker would be to mock the police. In this context, one would not teach a toddler to call a group of cops, pigs because it would be teaching the child the derisive meaning of an otherwise neutral word.
It seems that with this understanding, we should be putting more weight on the meaning of the word, then on the word itself, yet a lot of times we still don’t. For example certain cuss words are used by people all over the world to generally express emotion, typically of exasperation, annoyance, or disappointment. The feelings that are being expressed by these words, are not something that typically people want to hide because it’s not seen as bad to have these feelings or to even express them. Society allows for “polite” substitutions, words that can be used instead of cuss words: think “shoot” instead of “shit” or “darn it” instead of “damn it.” However, think about it, when you use the substitute word, are you changing the meaning or just the word? It’s just the word, right? You’re still expressing the same emotion that you felt, the meaning, context, and intent of the word all remains the same, so why then are cuss words bad, but others with the same meaning, not?
It seems rather arbitrary to declare certain words bad regardless of context. Words get their power, whether good or bad, by their meaning and the intent in which they are used. Seemingly neutral words can be used to cause a great deal of harm and suffering, while seemingly bad words can be used in an otherwise generally acceptable fashion. It’s not that there are bad words, there are just words and it is the speaker’s intent that should be scrutinised, not the words themselves.